Millennium

Begin

Curt and eloquent The epitome of cult albums, along with Oar, this sold diddly squat when released and not many more since. Yet it continues to be rereleased. The quality of the music is what drives these reissues, not the dollars rolling in. This version is from Creation Records retro label Rev-Ola.

The genesis of the band is a tortuous tale that involves Gary Usher, Sagittarius and the Ballroom, but mainly revolves around the vision of Curt Boettcher. The band was made up of a glut of guitarist-songwriters, rather like Moby Grape. This would guarantee a certain amount of creation friction and a batch of excellent songs, given the competition.

The sound of the album is pure late sixties California chic, you can almost hear the sun beating down on the shimmering sea and sand. The songs are layered and create a feeling of mellowness that sums up the popular image of the period. The album starts with an instrumental prelude that leads into the excellent To Claudia On Thursday, a title that reflects the fact it was written on a Thursday to make a girl called Claudia feel better.

The rest of the album is full of gems, and what puzzles this listener is why these songs are not a constant of golden hours on the radio. The Island surely influenced a Blur song or two, and 5AM is the classic early hours song.

The back of the album bears the legend To Be Continued..., a promise that was sadly not meant to be. Still it is enough of an achievement to leave this diamond behind.